The Dallas Mavericks rookie returned to the court Monday afternoon after missing a pair of games with a left ankle injury. Flagg picked up right where he left off and helped lead the Mavericks to a crushing 114-97 victory over the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.
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Flagg suffered a left foot injury in last week’s win over the Brooklyn Nets, but then left the team’s loss to the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday after landing awkwardly on his left foot midway through the second quarter.
Flagg stepped on someone’s foot, Kidd said after that fight, and did not return in the second half.
As a result, Flagg missed two games, both of which ended up being blowout victories over the Utah Jazz. He was deemed questionable to play in Monday afternoon’s game against the Knicks, part of the NBA’s MLK Day schedule, but was cleared after going through pregame warmups.
Flag entered halftime with 13 points, all but two of which came in the second quarter. He shot an impressive 6-for-8 from the field and seemed perfectly fine with his ankle. Flagg attacked Karl-Anthony Towns in the lane and easily scored a jumper over him for the first points of the game.
But it was Max Christie who sent the Mavericks into the locker room with a massive 28-point lead. Christie scored 18 points at halftime with six made 3-pointers, just over half of what the rest of the Mavericks scored from behind the arc in the first 24 minutes. The Knicks, on the other hand, shot just 3 of 16 from 3-point range in the first half.
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That lead proved to be too much for the Knicks to recover from. Dallas briefly increased its lead to 30 points before holding on to secure the 17-point victory. They withstood a 10-2 run in the fourth quarter, which briefly reduced the deficit to just 15 points, to do it.
Karl-Anthony Towns led the Knicks with 22 points and 18 rebounds. Jalen Brunson also added 20 points and seven assists. They were the only starters to reach double figures for New York, although Mitchell Robinson finished with 12 points and 15 rebounds off the bench. The loss was the fourth in a row for the Knicks, who fell to 25-18 on the season. They have also lost nine of their last 11 games.
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Christie finished with 26 points and six rebounds, and was 8 of 10 from behind the arc. That tied the Mavericks’ franchise record for most three-pointers made at Madison Square Garden. Flagg finished with 18 points, seven rebounds and three assists. Naji Marshall also finished with 19 points and eight rebounds.
The Mavericks have won four of their last five and have a record of 18-26. They will return to Dallas to host the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers later this week.